18 June – 2 July 2023

After leaving Cape Keraudren, we drove the 150km to the nearest roadhouse (Sandfire) to fuel up. We had heard that since the Pardoo Roadhouse was destroyed in April, Sandfire has been charging a premium for fuel seeing as there is really no other place to refuel between Broome and Port Headland. We joined the long queue of vans heading in, waiting to fill up. It only took 20 minutes which we thought was ok and the price also wasn’t as bad as we thought at 232.8c/lt.

We continued north and had a quick look at a couple of overnight rest stops (you never know when they will come in handy) and had some lunch. This was by far the biggest driving day for us in our 3 months on the road at 450km. Broome was our stop over on the way to Cygnet Bay, at the top of the Dampier Peninsula.

We decided to stay at Broome’s Gateway Caravan Park 30km outside of Broome. We were only there for 2 nights to refuel, restock the supplies and wash. The park itself has the best ablutions we have come across so far. There is no power to the sites (doesn’t bother us), the sites are big and shady, it has a dedicated doggy play area (full fenced) and a big camp kitchen. At half the price of the Broome caravan parks it was a winner.

We then headed onwards towards the northern most part of our trip. We booked a week at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm 220km north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula. They provide all sorts of accommodation styles including safari tents, tent sites and caravan and camping sites which are spread across 2 areas. Sites are large, with big trees and are not jammed in like a traditional caravan park/camping ground. Our site was a very large drive through site with beautiful big trees. The ablutions are a little tired, but did the trick. The farm has an onsite restaurant and bar which overlooks the infinity pool and bay, lookouts and walking tracks to explore. We went to the restaurant twice because the food was so good. The beers weren’t exactly cheap, but we had a few anyway. You can also do tours which explain the pearl farm and history of the station. We had a go at fishing a few days (when the tides were ok) and we caught a variety of fish including whiting, flathead, mangrove jack and trevally. Barb and Jeff from Cape Keraudren met up with us and we spent a couple of nights together laughing and catching up over dinner and a drink. The ABC is the only radio station that you can get in most places up here and we are getting use to listening to talk back and the weekly cattle prices. One morning I entered the who am I quiz and won! A prize pack was then waiting for me in Broome. The weather turned average at the end of our stay and unseasonably heavy rains were forecast for the Kimberly and Pilbra areas. Many roads were closed including the Gibb River Road in readiness for the rains. This meant that campers were having to leave the area and change plans. Broome opened their overflow camps to cope with the expected influx of travelers needing a place to stay, which was a good move. As we left Cygnet Bay, we had to drive for 100km in annoying drizzle as the rains arrived. Looking at side roads as we drove south, we could see the red pindan dirt had turned to sludge. Cars and van coming out of these roads looked like they had been through a pretty rough time getting out. They were now covered in thick, red mud and having to inflate their tyres in the rain.

Arriving back in Broome we stayed at the same caravan park, Broome Gateway but this time for 5 nights. We drove to Broome each day and every day there was a new activity on offer. We had to get the car windscreen replaced after the car was sprayed with gravel by a truck going way too fast through roadworks on our way out of Millstream Chichester a month ago. We also caught up with a family friend who is doing some seasonal work at one of the resorts. We visited the Town Beach Markets one evening which were a little underwhelming unfortunately. We ducked in to the ABC studios to pick up my prize pack. It was mostly promotional bits but also had a book (I was keen to read this one after listening to the author on one of the talk back sessions) a couple of magazines, stubby holder and a magnet and pen. We went a saw a movie (Indiana Jones) at the worlds oldest picture garden, the building housing Sun Pictures was built in 1903. There is a lot of history to the cinema some of which is not particularly nice around the war and segregation and some is actually quite funny. As one story goes, the cinema would flood with the high tides until a levy was built in 1974. The men folk would have to carry their sweethearts out of the cinema across the water to dry land. They even say you could catch a fish during a screening. The airport also flys directly overhead which certainly is a bit different. 3 planes flew overhead during our movie. We visited the weekend courthouse markets and also spent an afternoon at the Broome races (no we didn’t win anything). We ate out quite a bit at different pubs and cafes. I think we managed to cram in quite a bit over our few days here. The weather is unseasonably cold and cloudy and hasn’t been ideal. Our last night we spend listening to one traveler playing guitar and singing around the fire, promoting her album. Ugg boots and jumpers was the attire of choice by most people. Now it’s time to head south and back towards home, but not before another couple of months exploring new places. But, where 2 next?